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Agile Underwriting Services
Agile Underwriting is a Lloyd’s coverholder and insurtech, writing accident & health, aviation, casualty, cyber, fi nancial lines, and retail travel. It combines traditional underwriting with digital distribution and product development services for brokers.
AGILE UNDERWRITING is truly independent, with no external investors. Established by an experienced Lloyd’s and insurtech team in 2015, the agency combines underwriting expertise with deep IT knowledge. Agile is adept at creating technology tools that enable brokers to spend time on relationships, not process. That way, brokers can focus on giving risk management advice to clients, which is where their true value lies.
The Powered by Agile online platform empowers brokers to quote and bind business under $3,000 in just two minutes. The portal automates simple, transactional business, which frees brokers to concentrate on being trusted advisers to their clients. The platform, which is free for approved brokers to access, o ers four ways to transact business.
• Traditional broking – use the system to quote and bind for clients.
• Give customers access via individual broker URLs so they can bind their own risks, which the broker tracks and monitors via a dashboard.
• Build association schemes, which enhance the broker’s income streams.
• Build an independent online brand and market white-label products using API connectivity, backed by Agile’s technology.
For more complex risks, Agile’s underwriting teams work in tandem with brokers to create bespoke solutions written on a risk-by-risk basis. The depth of London market knowledge among the underwriting team means they can fi nd ways to write risks rather than reject business.
Agile is always seeking new binding authorities to provide solutions for brokers’ clients’ needs. Agile boasts 11 binders, providing broad capacity across Lloyd’s syndicates and London market companies. Agile’s in-house TPA, Claim Services, manages all claims.
NATE SOMMER, GENERAL MANAGER – CASUALTY
AGILE BY name and agile by nature – that’s how Nate Sommer views the agency he joined in December 2019 to establish a casualty portfolio with an appetite for general liability risks. Sommer says broker response to the portfolio has been “phenomenal”, and he’s extremely happy with its growth so far, given the tough year that was 2020.
The portfolio initially focused on trades, manufacturing, sca olding and wholesaling, but Sommer is now broadening its reach, with a focus on creating unique, bespoke products. The three-member casualty team works hand-in-hand with brokers to develop specifi c programs for complex risks.
While brokers can easily use the Powered by Agile platform for commodity-style risks, Sommer promotes interaction with brokers for complex risks.
“We have one-on-one chats with brokers by phone and Zoom and have reintroduced personal visits,” he says. Despite the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic, the casualty team used technology to ensure they maintained face-to-face contact with brokers.
Agile specialises in creating casualty facilities for specifi c trade, industry and professional groups and member bodies. For example, Sommer is working with a broker to create a program for an industry association, o ering broad coverage – the market standard with “extra bells and whistles” – and competitive premiums.
In 2021, Agile is launching a combined accident & health, liability, cyber, and general property cover for white-collar remote workers in response to market need.
Sommer has more than two decades of insurance experience, having started as a broker at age 17. He has worked with general insurers and Lloyd’s coverholders and is a customer-centric underwriter who thrives on providing tailored casualty products for brokers and their clients. He has a deep understanding of contract law and industry regulations across a broad gamut of professions and occupations and was named Underwriting Agency BDM of the Year at the 2019 Insurance Business Australia Awards.
ROBIN BARHAM, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO
the right personnel is the backbone of our business model. All of our underwriting team has experience in the Lloyd’s and London markets and the depth of knowledge to excel in hard-to-place risks.
How did 2020 change the way your agency does business? It didn’t. Agile was established as a remotefirst business. We hire people based on their capabilities, and they work in their preferred locations. When COVID-19 arrived, we were already set up for work from home, and the pandemic validated our model.
How do you see technology changing the insurance industry, and how are you embracing it? Agile is a true insurtech. We’ve built our own fit-for-purpose technology and use it to underwrite risks.
What do you see as your most important feature as a company? The Agile team – we have built a team of specialist underwriters who have a deep understanding of their portfolios. Having Do you have any plans for broker engagement? Agile is all about broker engagement – that’s how we do business. It’s the foundation on which our business is built and will continue to be as we grow together with our broker partners.
What’s the ideal broker to work with? We build deep relationships with brokers. They’re our focus, and we work in tandem with them. Our technology investments are a means by which brokers can work seamlessly with Agile and meet their clients’ needs. We help brokers grow their businesses because their success is our success.
If you could change one thing about underwriting or insurance, what would it be? The insurance industry is not its best salesperson. We pay claims every day, but we need to trumpet that loudly to those who view insurance as a grudge purchase.
What is the greatest challenge facing underwriting agencies today? Underwriting agencies are at their zenith. They fill an increasing gap in the market because they have specialist expertise and the ability to manage hard-to-place risks that big insurers can’t or won’t touch.
PRODUCTS
• Accident & health
• Affinity programs • Aircraft
• Aircraft engineers’ liability • Airside liability • Aviation
• Bill protection • Cyber tech/e-risks • Drone hull and liability • General liability • Hard-to-place risks • Helicopters • Income protection • Legal expenses • Liability • Loss of licence – pilots (individual and group) • Multimedia liability • Personal accident: e-scooter/ bike hire operators, group, individual, journey, pilots, remote workers, voluntary workers • Political risk
• Product liability • Professional indemnity: accountants,
architects, bookkeepers, engineers, excess layers, recruitment, SME/ miscellaneous, surveyors • Professional lines
• Property owners’ liability • Public liability • SME packages • Terrorism
• Travel
• Travel – corporate • Voluntary workers